On Blackness, Good And Bad

Look, the Flash is a science-hero. The Black Flash is not a science-hero idea. So either make it a science-hero idea, by being clever, or get rid of it. I swear, comics writers who don’t understand the Flash…what in the hell is there to understand?!? It’s the Flash. Just write it, god damn you. Just do a good job!

So lazy…!

2. Apparently in McDuffie’s FF, there’s a scene where Ben questions whether Ororo’s hair is real, or just a weave. And apparently this is a real and true super-relatable question that black women get asked all the time, and Ororo responds as they all wish they could. WHAT?!Get outta here! I had no idea! Who says this isn’t the age of Marvel sociological education! Mr. McDuffie! Nice one.

Christ, that makes me laugh. Yes, get it out there, get it out there! Let’s hear about it! I’m not buying FF at the moment, but I like Dwayne a lot, and if he keeps on doing surprising things I promise I’ll show up one of these days, swear to God.

3. I mentioned this before, but I think I should mention it again since no one read that post. In the FF cartoon now out in Canada — I think it’s awesome, by the way — the Puppet Master, Philip Masters, because his daughter is black as per the movie, is a black man too. But, I’ve got qualms about this. I think he should be white. Because his whole gig is complaining about how he never gets the recognition he deserves as an artist, and so he becomes a supervillain who (it seems) wants to prove himself exclusively by kidnapping/tormenting/killing more successful white artists.

And I don’t like this.

They handle it well, blackness aside, but…

As Ed points out, Philip is Alicia’s stepfather. So he could be white; what, Marvel, never heard of a blended family? You bloody bastards. And don’t you all think it’s rather unseemly that a black supervillain is motivated by these “Affirmative Action failed me, and so now I’m a big baby” issues? Crap. Well, it isn’t deliberate, I think we can be sure of that. But, did somebody drop the ball, hoo-boy! “Finally, I’ll get the respect I deserve!” I do not need to hear that from a black super-villain, come on. If he were white, kidnapping different Artists of Colour who’ve committed the sin of being more successful than him…hey, that’d be a great anti-racist FF story under the skin! And that’d be okay. Look, Alicia herself is an Artist of Colour! Gosh. Stan would’ve been all over that, that’s silly-ass gold right there. And yet for the want of a nail…

It isn’t a worthy message, in 2007. It’s exactly backwards. Alicia shouldn’t “prove” that some black people can be good. Philip Masters shouldn’t “prove” that some black people can be bad. That’s awful. That shouldn’t be. And it’s exactly backwards.

They should just change that. Listen, forget that “Black Flash” stuff. They should just change the Puppet Master thing. There’s no reason to keep it. It’s a very sour note.

Oh…no? Just me?

They should change that.

4. Look at this Alex Toth Black Canary story. Just look at it. Black Canary could carry her own book in a minute. It just takes brains.

6. Black rain falls in Vancouver at this hour, in buckets. Honestly, buckets: I can see ’em, hear ’em exploding on the floor of the parkade a hundred feet below me…we have the damnedest weather here. Now, what was I saying…?

Oh! I had webcomics to share. But, I forgot all their names.

Too bad!

Will try better next time. Fail better. Fail upwards.

And now to partake of the Odinsleep. Loki, hold onto the Sceptre of Universal Evil for me, willya?

Speaking of Flash, Pillock…some months ago you blogged about the now-neglected wonder that were the Baron/Messner-Loeb issues of Wally’s adventures. You’ll be pleased to know that Kalerina, over at Pretty Fizzy Paradise, has posted her own, new, appreciation for their storytelling. Go read: